In August 2024, an aggressive feral cat outside a hotel in Cecil County, Maryland, was captured, euthanized, and later confirmed rabid. The animal was part of an unmanaged colony of about 20 cats and kittens. What followed was an intensive, multistate response effort—one that underscores how unmanaged cat populations can amplify public health risks and stretch limited health resources.
The findings, recently published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Maryland Department of Health, reveal both the dangers of urban rabies transmission and the complexities of controlling exposure in human populations.
A High-Risk Encounter with a Common Vector
Cats are the most frequently reported rabid domestic animal in the United States, with 200–300 cases annually. Unlike owned pets, feral cats have more frequent contact with wildlife reservoirs such as raccoons, bats, and skunks, yet are far less likely to be vaccinated. This makes them a unique and potent interface between humans and wildlife rabies reservoirs.
In Maryland alone, feral cats accounted for 10% of all reported rabid animals in 2023. Since 2019, 109 rabid cats have been documented statewide. While rabid cats have been noted before, mass-exposure events requiring interstate coordination remain rare.
Coordinated Response: From Hotels to Unhoused Populations
Once the Maryland Department of Health confirmed rabies, the immediate task was identifying human exposures. Potentially exposed individuals fell into three groups: hotel guests and staff, persons experiencing homelessness near the hotel, and local residents.
- Hotel guests: Review of reservation records identified 309 potentially exposed people from 27 U.S. states, 10 Maryland jurisdictions, and Canada. Investigators conducted extensive risk assessments, with CDC notifying Canadian officials directly.
- Local residents: Officials deployed reverse 911 messaging to alert the community and encourage reporting of possible exposure.
- Unhoused persons: Cecil County’s special populations team and trusted outreach partners helped reach individuals living near the hotel, ensuring that those exposed received timely post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
Ultimately, three people were confirmed exposed and treated with PEP. No human rabies cases were reported.
Resource-Intensive Interventions
The investigation illustrates the steep resource demands of rabies control. Among 29 jurisdictions involved in the response, 17 provided personnel time estimates totaling 450 hours. Beyond personnel, the CDC estimates that PEP linked to rabid cats costs approximately $33 million annually in the U.S.
Capturing and testing additional cats also required extensive animal control resources. While three more cats from the colony were euthanized and tested negative, the broader colony size remained uncertain, and residents reported ongoing feeding and sheltering of feral cats.
Implications for Public Health and Biosecurity
This outbreak highlights several key risks:
- Persistent exposure potential: Unmanaged cat colonies can serve as recurring points of rabies transmission if breeding and wildlife contact continue.
- Community engagement gaps: Informal feeding and sheltering of feral cats, without vaccination or sterilization, inadvertently increase exposure risks.
- System strain: Local and state responders were required to mobilize broad networks—across borders and populations—demonstrating the cascading impact of unmanaged zoonotic threats.
Public health experts argue that managed cat colony programs, which maintain vaccination coverage and control reproduction, can mitigate these risks while also engaging community caretakers as partners in prevention.
The Maryland outbreak serves as a reminder that rabies, though rare in humans, remains a critical zoonotic threat. With urban cat populations serving as both beloved neighborhood fixtures and potential rabies vectors, communities must balance compassion with vigilance.
Investments in proactive colony management, public education, and rapid-response infrastructure will be essential for minimizing future outbreaks. For stakeholders across public health, veterinary medicine, and emergency management, this event underscores a broader lesson: unmanaged animal populations can quickly escalate into multistate, multinational biosecurity challenges.
Ludmer S, Crum D, Wallace R, Hutson J. Rabies Outbreak in an Urban, Unmanaged Cat Colony — Maryland, August 2024. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 21 August 2025.